Well.

I talked with my advisor today. I started talking about how I wanted to transfer to JWU for their hospitality program. She said that it was better that I switch to someplace where I learn something I want, rather than be forced into their general business program. So hopefully I'll be going to school there next year (at some point).

I just feel like I'm getting my hopes up too much about the Fall program. I really really really don't want to get denied. But also, if I don't end up making the Fall '10 program than I'd be going to JWU that fall, and I could always apply for Spring or next Fall. Nothing against Spring, I just think that the weather would get to me after a while. I mean I'm an Irish girl from Rhode Island. I don't tan, and it gets pretty cold her. Speaking of weather, it was in the 60s today and yesterday. Hopefully it's that nice Wednesday when I go on tour.

So I get my computer back tomorrow. I'm so excited. I'm glad that my dad was able to give me his, it's just annoying how he has this program that deletes the cookies every few hours. So I get to log into all my accounts basically every time I open Explorer.

I think once I apply to the DCP in January then I'd get more focused for what's going to happen next Fall. I hope that if I get in I can "stay" at URI for that semester, and defer my acceptance to JWU until their spring term. That's my goal. Let's hope this all works out.

It Finally Comes

Tomorrow's the day I have an appointment with my advisor! So I'll get to talk about the possiblility of doing the program, and transfering to Johnson and Wales. I'm nervous. I'm gonna go in there and be like "sorry I don't like your school... but can I do the program here to pay less tuition AND get credit for it?"

I'm not sure if I'll do it if I can't get credit for it. There are so many options for me to pick that I'm having a hard time choosing the best one. And if I do it through JWU I'd have to do Fall/Spring Quarter Advantage. I'd really just like to do it August through January.

Wednesday I'm going to JWU to tour and hopefully talk to someone cause I've got a few questions.

I'll probably post tomorrow after my appointment.

FYI, I still don't have my computer. I'm using my dad's laptop for the past week.

Worst Week Ever!

So, to start off. I have a test/exam everyday this week. (Yay MIDTERMS!) I've lost my ID twice in 3 days. I overslept 2 hours today and missed my nutrition class, the last one before the exam. And to top it off my computer broke. I dropped it on the floor, printing out JWU course catelogs. GRRR! So I've hooked it up to a moniter and and backing everything up as we speak.. or as I type. So this week has not been good. And it's probably only going to get worse.

I had my history midterm today. I studied really hard for it, so hopefully I get better than the 51 I got last time. If you don't hear from me in a while ^that's why.

What to do, what to do... UPDATE

URI, JWU, or DCP?
Those are my options.

So last year, senior year of high school, we had to do this "senior project" which involved doing fieldwork, getting a mentor, having a product, and presenting about a topic or field you're interested in. I did mine on, what else, Disney. More specifically "Planning a Walt Disney World Vacation With Your Special Needs." I worked with a travel agent, and got to research about a company I already loved. I realized that at the end of the project that I wanted to work with Disney in some way or another.. the only problem was that I didn't apply to the one school near me with a hospitality major. I know that I don't need to be in hospitality to work at disney world. But it's what I'm interested in, I just realized it too late.

So right now I'm a business major at the University of Rhode Island. And I'm thinking about transferring to Johnson and Wales Providence to be a Travel-Tourism and Hospitality major. JWU is only about 20 minutes away from my house, I wouldn't live there I'd commute. (I just need a car for that)

Now here's where it gets tricky. I really really really really really want to be in the Fall 10 college program. I also want to stay at URI for at least one more semester. Just to complete my freshman year in one place. Do I want to wait until Spring/Fall 11 to do the program? I am just so overwhelmed with options to do. I also haven't talked to my parents or advisor about this yet... So I should probably discuss this with them. But I'll talk to it with my advisor on the 2nd when I have my appointment. EDIT: My advisor emailed me that she canceled my appointment... because she thinks I just want to discuss what she's going to my class to talk about... but I don't. Now I can't make a new appointment until the third week of November.

Can I just go back to senior year and tell myself to apply to JWU? It'd make life so much easier.

Answers and Schedules

Margo, the Disney representative emailed me back a couple of days ago. So here are the questions I asked and her answers.

1. Do you recommend being a hospitality major in order to get the role of hospitality or conciege in the program?
We definitely look for students majoring in a related major or with prior experience.

2. What percent of students who apply get in the program?
I couldn’t give you that number. It is very competitive but please do not let that deter you. We take a good number of students each semester.

3. What percent of students get their number one role? Number two? Number three?
Again, I couldn’t give you that number.

4. What percent of students repeat the program?
A lot…I’ve done 5!

5. What percent of students go on to do Professional Internships?
A good majority…most of our PI’s require that you are an alumni so most students that go through the program go directly for a PI or do one right after graduation.

I also have a question about your programs specifically. You said that you did the program 3 times and did 2 professional internships. How long did it take you to complete college? I am planning to apply for the Fall '10 program which would be my first semester sophomore year. I want to do it so early in case I want to do the program again or do professional internships. I just don't want to be in college forever.

I did not take any semesters off although I would have loved to. My school did not give any credit and there was not guarantee that I would get back in if I left; you fortunately do not have that issue. When I did the program forever ago in ’98, they recruited for summer but that was the last year they did. Since I had done the program in ’98 I was eligible to continue on for summers so I did all summers and the 2 PI’s were following graduation. So I took 5 years to graduate by choice. I could have done it in 4 but chose to slow down.
Hope that helps!

Right now I'm trying to figure out my schedule for next semester. Because I'm a freshman we have to meet with our advisor to talk about what classes we will take before we can actually sign up for them. It's kind of annoying. But I do have some classes about what classes we can take. Because I'm a Business Major I have some requirements. But Freshman year is mainly about getting your gen-eds out of the way, so that's what I'm trying to do. But their are SO many choices that I can take and they don't all fit with my classes. Also I'd like to sleep past 8am everyday. This semester I've had 8 am classes on Tuesday and Thursday, and 9 am classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Hopefully I'll get good times next semester. We'll find out November 17th when I can pick them.

Procrastination

So, my advisor couldn't make it to the meeting yesterday. And I couldn't reschedule until November 2nd.

I have yet to e-mail the recruiter my questions. I'm just too lazy. But I'll do it sometime.

This is a dumb post. But I need to not get all hyped up on the DCP. I have 3 months of waiting, and then applying, then more waiting. Gah. This is going to take forever.

The Campus Presentation

Today I went to the campus presentation in Fall River, Mass about an hour away from my school. I'm getting a little bit crazy about this whole college program thing. I got there 20 minutes early, wasn't the first one there, and watched that pre-show video about 5 times. I noticed a few clips from the e-presentation and hoped that the whole presentation wasn't just like the e-presentation, especially because I watched it Friday night.

The representative talked about how she started with the Disney College Program in '98, did it 3 times, and two professional internships. I meant to ask her how long it took her to complete college but I forgot, and I'm going to e-mail her my question. A lot of the information I've heard before. She showed a video about how Disney is everywhere basically in all aspects of entertainment, from the resorts, to TV and movies, to ABC and ESPN.

What I really took out of this presentation is that they're really trying to recruit for the Disneyland College Program. All the videos shown in the presentation were filmed in Disneyland, the recruiter kept mentioning Disneyland.

Also the presentation focused a lot on what you are able to do after the program. They interviewed many people who did the program when they were in college and are now head of food service or manager of merchandise. They made a point to mention the classes and professional internships which the e-presentation doesn't focus on all that much.

She didn't focus on roles specifically or housing specifically, she just breezed over them and said to check the website to get a better look at what it's all about.

At the end of the presentation she asked if we were going to continue to apply to take the paper with the code on it. I took it. Even though I'm a Fall 10 hopeful I kind of want to apply to Spring 10 just to see if I get in. I don't want to get my hopes up for going next Fall to not make it. I'd be devastated. I also don't want to not pass the new web-based interview. I fail on the first level would be humiliating. If I get in I'd turn it down, I just don't want to waste my time.

So tomorrow I'm going to talk with my advisor about applying in January to go in the Fall. Hopefully all goes well. I'll post tomorrow.